I was having the same issue, of just inititalizing. I read the thread below, and someone posted this earler version. I took out the current one, and downloaded this version, and it worked. Hope this helps someone!

Thanks so much! I have been struggling w/loading this software all weekend. I was concerned because we are on satellite internet and thought maybe I was out of luck. However, this link worked like a charm! Thanks

1/22/13 Update - got the craft room to open, but the mini & computer will not talk to each other. Giving up. Tried to return mini to Joanne's where it was purchased. They refused to return because it had been opened. Told me to contact Provo Craft. They refused to do anything b/c I did not buy it from them. Just about had it w/Joanne's & Provo Craft - there are other cutting systems out there. One would think that the info re unreliability w/satellite internet would be on the OUTSIDE OF THE BOX. Called Joanne's corporate office, hopefully they will be able to authorize the return. And I already bought another Cricut (the Expression, as the E2 has such bad reviews) off ebay. If Joanne's &/or ProvoCraft don't solve this - I'll sell both machines and go to someone else's system.

I am using the older version of CCR and even though the initializing screen is still loading (never finalizes and I don't wait for it to load completely), I click on the log in button and it loads CCR just fine. May seem like an easy thing to try. Don't wait, just click!Cherie

I am so frustrated, I can not get passed that video as you first login before ever using the CCR! I have tried everything......ANYBODY HELP???

Thanks!Karen

Hello Karen- You will need to change your screen resolution. Here are the requirements you will need to set it to: •Minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution. Please call customer service at 877-7cricut is you have any further questions about this. We would be happy to assist you!-Cricut Gena

I am getting so frustrated, I have images I have bought and have yet to see or use. I am stuck on the initializing loop!!! Have spoken to customer service twice, emails back and forth and I still can NOT get past this screen. HELP!!!!

I am using a MacBook Pro and have a similar problem. I can get on, but if I try to cut more than one or two pages, I will have to shut down the program and restart it. After I have done this a few times, it won't restart, I just get, "initializing . . ." It will re-open in a few hours, but it is very frustrating! When I called the Cricut 800 number, they told me it might be due to an update on the Mac side, but I don't think so.

Did this ever get fixed? I have yet to be able to log on to CCR. I get the stuck at accessing your account loop. Have not managed to make it past that. I have made sure it is not blocked by my virus software.

Did this ever get fixed? I have yet to be able to log on to CCR. I get the stuck at accessing your account loop. Have not managed to make it past that. I have made sure it is not blocked by my virus software.

If you're stuck at the initializing screen then it most likely is your anti-virus software. Which one are you using? And which version of Windows?

I have been trying to get the cricut craft room to work on and off for about 1 year now trying various computers and uninstalling my anti virus and firewall software. I reallly want to use this program. But I too am so frustrated. I have the same problem everyone else does. It says it is initializing then an error pops up "CCRBridge.exe has stopped working. The help protect your computer data exception prevention has closed (DEP). I tried removing the DEP for this program, but Windows won't let me. I am running Vista. I just tried to install the latest version from the cricut craft room web site of cricut craft room. I have Zone Alarm security which I turned off, but nothing helps. Help!

I just received a cricut mini and it is stuck "initializing C". I've turned off my firewall/defender, rebooted it, checked and updated EVERYTHING,installed and uninstalled. It is not because my computer is old. My computer is a touch HP, windows 7. I have tried to fix this for 2 days now. HELP btw this is the online craft

Hello Everyone,I have the same problem here... I'm frequently stuck at the initializing screen, at the checking mat status screen, at the Accessing account and often CCR said that "no usable devices are available. I don't know if it's because I have a MAC or anything else but I've tried many things... nothing seems to work.

*I Called customer service and they said : Reinstall the software, restart your computer, and the machine.Sometimes I have to do this 5 times until CCR open.

Hello Everyone,I have the same problem here... I'm frequently stuck at the initializing screen, at the checking mat status screen, at the Accessing account and often CCR said that "no usable devices are available. I don't know if it's because I have a MAC or anything else but I've tried many things... nothing seems to work.

*I Called customer service and they said : Reinstall the software, restart your computer, and the machine.Sometimes I have to do this 5 times until CCR open.

I like my cricut... but CCR cause me a lot of frustration.

Does anybody have an other solution? Thank you very much!

Be sure you are uninstalling ADOBE AIR when you're uninstalling your CRICUT....before reinstalling again.

Go up to TOOLS while you're on the internet and DELETE ALL BROWSING HISTORY.

Then, I would REBOOT my computer after all uninstallation BEFORE I reinstalled anything. Maybe you're doing this. ALSO, unplug the CRICUT from your hard drive before you restart your computer. I would also go ahead and reinstall everything BEFORE I plugged my machine back into the hard drive.

This will help everything start FRESH.

After the REINSTALL, then go ahead and plug the USB cord back into your hard drive on your computer and turn on your CRICUT machine.

What computer are you using and what CRICUT machine are you using? Have you installed the drivers on your CRICUT machine (go to the HELP menu when you bring up CCR...and, with your machine turned on, INSTALL DRIVERS).

I know you have probably already done all of this....but, just checking and maybe there's one little thing that might be helpful.

For whatever it's worth, I was having the same incompatibility with Craftroom and Avast and pinned down the precise process and shield. If you're not comfortable disabling all of your antivirus while running, you can create an exception for CCRBridge.exe specifically in Avast's "Behavior Shield".

1. Open Avast's control panel.

2. Click "Real-Time Shields" to expand the selections under there.

3. Click "Behavior Shield".

4. Click "Expert Settings".

5. On the left hand side of the window that pops up, click the "Trusted processes" tab.

6. Click the browse button in the selection window and browse to CCRBridge.exe, (probably found at C:\Program Files (x86)\Cricut-Craft Room\CCRBridge.exe, but could vary slightly depending on your installation).

7. Click OK and close out the multitude of windows you've opened up following these instructions.

8. Craft room should work now.

Cheers.

If you are using ADVAST for anti virus, do this. It work for me :) THANKS

Mine just started doing this last night and after a few tries I was able to get in.....now I am having the same problem where it just stays and says initializing cricut craft room. I don't know what to do. I am also having trouble now whenever I load my mat and hit print, it keeps asking me to load my mat.........I have tried everything and it continues to ask me to load it....this is so confusing/frustrating. Anyone else having these same issues??

Sometimes, when CCR is asking us to load our MAT, they're not always talking about the mat we're putting into our machines.

Sometimes, because of something we did after we clicked on CUT, they ask us to go back out of the (CUT) screen and come back in. To PC that is one way to LOAD THE MAT. They should say something else.....but they say to LOAD THE MAT!!

I just bought the mini for my wife and I have to say this is the biggest load of Crap I have ever seen.

I work as an IT professional and have spent over 3 hours trying to get this install and load. If you can't put out stable software updates then don't put them out! If you can't get them to work with virus software then do you job and fix it before issuing an update. I am half tempted to take this piece of crap back just because of the software issue alone and the security holes it is opening up on my system by having to exclude whole folders from scans. You people need to get you stuff together for the prices you are charging! No customer should have to go through hours of research to find an answer to your complacent lack of programming skills. If my wife didn't want it so bad it would be returned and will be at the first hiccup! I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER PRODUCT YOU HAVE DEVELOPED EVER AGAIN IN MY WHOLE LIFE BECAUSE I AM SO FRICKIN ANGRY AT YOU LACK OF CONCERN FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PROVIDE SERVICE THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF A SERVICE BASED INDUSTRY!

Many of us are not IT specialists.....and we have been able to download CCR to our computers with little or no problems and are using it successfully everytime we use it.

What are you having problems with? What kind of computer are you using? I'm sure you have checked the requirements.

I would clean up your post a little (because, I think once PC sees it, it will be gone).

Can we try to help? Did ADOBE AIR download to your machine after your CCR download? Is your SHOCKWAVE FLASH OBJECT enabled out in your ADD ONS?

We would really like to try to help you; and, if we can't offer something here....please be sure to call ProvoCraft's CCR Tech Support in the morning. I'm sure they'll be able to help. IT EXPERTS don't always have all the answers....we all work with them. They have to find answers sometimes, too....and they can't always produce the exact results we want.

I hope you will hang in there and get this working for your wife. It's a sweet thing to do. Many of us love our CRICUTS and it's a wonderful outlet for our problems we have on a daily basis.

I had the same problem. Tried everything suggested but nothing worked. My partner has sorted it out for me though. He reinstalled cricut craft room in documents rather than program files. He created a folder called cricut in documents and then installed the program to this folder. It then worked. Try this and hopefully it will work.

I decided I need to use it and have a couple of (short notice) projects in mind but am unable to update the original Design software and mine won't weld, for some reason.

I downloaded and installed the Craft room software and the update but it just won't get past Initialisation.

I've read through all the comments/queries/responses on here and have done all - I've even created an exception in Avast, to make sure that's not the cause of it - but to no avail!

Please Help!

I'm doing a workshop Saturday and really need to do some cutting before I get there... not only that, but I think this is a pretty expensive machine to have hanging around if it just isn't fit for purpose.

I am trying to run Craft Room on my new laptop with Windows 8 and it is stuck on initialize. I have also installed the older version as suggested in an earlier post but it gets stuck with my login.

Any suggestions?

Sorry, dakita.....what do you mean you installed the older version....older version of what? Have you tried looking at some of the threads that asks about WINDOWS 8 and changing the compatability settings in CCR to WINDOWS 7 (to work in WINDOWS 8). You wouldn't install a whole different operating system to do that....are you saying you installed WINDOWS 7??

The problem is definitely with Cricut Craftroom build 179. I uninstalled build 179 from my Windows XP computer and installed build 151 (from a link I found on a previous post) and was able to open Craftroom successfully.

Unfortunately, I can't find a link to build 151 for the Mac as I need it to fix it on my Mac computer.

Don't know why Cricut Support didn't just tell me that when I sent them an email reporting the issue. It was only after going through the posts on this forum that I was able to see others have been having this same issue for the past 6 months.

I just managed to reinstall, update firmware, install drivers and even use it - but I had to uninstall my anti virus to get this far.

There must be another way? I do NOT like being without my antivirus!

Cath

Cath - I would go ahead and turn on the antivirus. Normally, when you turn off the antivirus, it allows you to install whatever the antivirus is not allowing you to install. Once it is installed, though, when you turn your antivirus back on, it should recognize that you have installed something new and I believe it will then allow you to use it?

I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think that's how it works. I wouldn't go without any antivirus protection in today's volatile environment with viruses and such. It's okay to go without it for twenty minutes while you're installing something....it's not likely you could get hit with a virus in that twenty minutes, but I supposed it's not unheard of.

Can some of our antivirus gurus and/or more savvy computer members comment on this?

The problem is definitely with Cricut Craftroom build 179. I uninstalled build 179 from my Windows XP computer and installed build 151 (from a link I found on a previous post) and was able to open Craftroom successfully.

Unfortunately, I can't find a link to build 151 for the Mac as I need it to fix it on my Mac computer.

Don't know why Cricut Support didn't just tell me that when I sent them an email reporting the issue. It was only after going through the posts on this forum that I was able to see others have been having this same issue for the past 6 months.

nelitab - I have an old WINDOWS XP that has 2GB RAM on it. It got hit with trojans and viruses two years ago.....and I reinstalled XP, updated RAM to 2GB (it only had 512GB to begin with). When CCR BETA started, I was able to get it up and running in no time....using Internet Explorer. I have had very few problems with it and am running it with BUILD 179 with my Expression.

Just letting you know there are the success stories with BUILD 179 with XP, too.

nelitab - I have an old WINDOWS XP that has 2GB RAM on it. It got hit with trojans and viruses two years ago.....and I reinstalled XP, updated RAM to 2GB (it only had 512GB to begin with). When CCR BETA started, I was able to get it up and running in no time....using Internet Explorer. I have had very few problems with it and am running it with BUILD 179 with my Expression.

Just letting you know there are the success stories with BUILD 179 with XP, too.

Char

Well I spoke too soon. While I can get past the initialization screen and I can see my saved projects, when I try to open one then it just sits there with the timer and nothing happens.

I've had build 179 installed on my Windows XP machine for awhile. It worked fine up until Feb 19, 2013. The very next day the problem starting happening where it hangs at the initializing screen when I would try to access it. It eventually times out and gives a "Service Error" message. The computer meets the minimum requirements to run CraftRoom, no other updates or changes were made on the computer. Like I said it has been working fine and the next day stopped working. Prior to reinstalling build 151, I had uninstalled and reinstalled build 179 several times, rebooted several times, uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe Air several times, cleared out all cookies, etc. I know my internet service and anti-virus software is not the problem as neither have been changed.

I also have a Mac computer which gets the same "Service Error" message. Went through all of the same troubleshooting as on the Windows XP computer and still can not get it to work. The Mac also meets the minimum requirements.

I just can not understand how it goes from working one day to not working the next day. Very frustrated with all of the time I have wasted trying to fix this problem. The whole point of me buying the Expression2 was to be more efficient.

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